So as of last count Kimmy as done...North Korea told an international organization it will fire a satellite into space between April 4-8, South Korea said Thursday, giving a time frame for a launch that neighboring governments suspect will test missile technology.
An official at South Korea's Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said Thursday that officials confirmed with the International Maritime Organization that the North had informed the organization of its schedule for the launch.
Do Myung-hwan, the official, said North Korea also notified the IMO that the launch will be made in an easterly direction. The London-based IMO could not immediately be reached as it had yet to open for business Thursday.
South Korea, Japan and the United States believe the launch will test missile technology in violation of a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution banning Pyongyang from ballistic missile activity, and have urged the North not to go forward.
Separately, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said earlier that the country has informed the IMO as well as the International Civil Aviation Organization and others "of necessary information for the safe navigation of planes and ships" amid preparations for the launch.
That dispatch did not say when a launch would take place, but South Korea cited the dates April 4-8, confirming a report by Yonhap news agency.
Reports began emerging in February that North Korea was preparing to test a long-range missile. North Korea has since sought to portray the launch as a legitimate and peaceful space program, and has vowed to retaliate against anyone who tries to prevent it.
North Korea's rocket plans have stoked already tense relations with the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang accuses them of using preparing an invasion during annual military drills taking place this week, a charge they deny.
South Korea's two main airlines began redirecting flights away from the North's airspace last week after the North threatened Seoul's passenger planes in protest over the annual exercises.
North Korea's military cut off a hot line with South Korea and temporarily closed the border this week before reopening it to allow South Koreans to travel to a joint industrial zone in the North.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said "a range of options" could be taken against North Korea if the country fires a missile.
She said Wednesday that the U.S., South Korea, Russia, Japan and China will discuss a response if the North goes forward with a missile test. The five countries are involved in disarmament talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programs.
The KCNA report noted that the country recently joined two U.N. treaties on space exploration, which "will contribute to promoting international confidence and boosting cooperation in the scientific research into space and the satellite launch for peaceful purposes." It was not immediately possible to confirm that element of the report.
Gong Hyeon C., an official at the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute, said most countries planning to conduct a satellite launch notify the ICAO and IMO of their plans and the organizations relay them to individual airlines and shipping companies.
He said the notification is a measure required to ensure civilian safety ahead of a test of a space launch vehicle.
Gong added that countries generally push ahead with a launch once they have notified international bodies of their plans.
Asiana Airlines Inc. said it has not received any notification about North Korea's launch plan. Kim Sung-hyun, a spokesman at Hanjin Shipping Co., a major Korean shipper, said he has no knowledge of any notification.
Korean Air Lines Co. said it would try to confirm whether it had received notification.
North Korea has faked a satellite launch in the past to cloak its missile development. In 1998 it claimed to have put a satellite into orbit after conducting a missile test that flew over Japan and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
A: Kidnapped actors and private citizens to make his own movies
B: Developed a fizzly nuclear arms program
C: Engaged in attempted blackmail with missiles and said nuclear arms program
All while millions of North Koreans have been starving for over a decade to the point that somewhere close to a quarter of the population are suffering serious side effects of malnutrition.
Yeah I think we have a winner for worse leader ever.
[/align]